First of all, I finished college. The project I was talking about in my last post got a 10 (that’s a B in the American grading system). The product itself was worth 12 (A) but, quite honestly, the examination was pretty cruel and I failed to answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between a normalized and denormalized table in a database? (I should have known the answer to this question but hey.. no regrets, right?)
• How can you store a PHP object inside a session? (I just couldn’t focus on giving an appropriate answer and was way too vague in the answer)
• Why didn’t I use JSON in order to send and receive the AJAX information? (I think the answer “I was just not very familiar with JSON and did not have enough time to go more into depth with it” was not really alright)

So, let’s put it this way: I am now a multimedia designer (literally, not just skillfully) and I’ll be finishing my bachelor in Web Development sometime next Winter. God damn, that seems so far away! Here’s a video I made out of 2 videos shot by one of my classmates and one of my teachers:

Those being sa(i)d, my life really revolves between going to work, watching the last 2 seasons of Seinfeld and any individual projects. Oh, and learning the regular expressions! I always bump into them so I guess now would be a good time to actually learn them!

On the other hand, the last week has been very entertaining from a metallic point of view as I got the chance to watch Soulfly, Master and Six Feet Under in 2 live performances, in Århus. Yeah, they were expensive but one should never refrain from actions which definitely gives him pleasures unless those pleasures are illegal but that’s a completely different aspect…

I’ll be coming home on the 22nd of July and I do not know what to expect. From any point of view. What’s even funnier is that I still haven’t bought a return ticket but I guess I’ll do it as soon as I get home though. Anyway, Scandinavian Airliens for the wins! I am so sick and tired of having a flight made out of 2 segments!

Can it get any worse? Yes it can! Bring it on, you mofo!

What I had expected

I had expected nothing and I have expected it all. I did my best to live my moments here as pleasant as I could but I do have several things I would do in a different way. Hmm, maybe that sounds a little too rough. What I really mean is there are some things which I would have done but time did not permit it. Come on, tell me how an asshole I am for saying what I just said: I did have 4 months at my disposal but 4 months are not an eternity.

The Internship

This was the reason I came back to Bucharest. Going back home for the internship was something which I simply had to do as there was no way of sustaining myself financially in Aarhus. I had my internship at Eau de Web and this internship might have been (more than a tad) lifechanging. The expectations I have had in regards to the internship were not fulfilled and I am more than happy for this outcome: I simply realized web programming is not something I should completely focus on. I also want to give huge thanks (and hugs) to all the people at the company for the way they treated me and their cooperation. I know I can sometimes(often..) be a very-hard-to-cope-with person but they adopted me fast and I am glad to say I have made some very good friends over there. Whenever I will get the chance, I will most definitely pay them a visit after their work schedule to grab a beer/juice and have a talk.

The Love Life

I am even more in love than I was when I arrived and the only thing that makes me sad is that I had to leave. It’s such a pity I did not have more time to spend with my girlfriend and this is one of those moments when I regret over-sleeping instead of waking up at the right time and meeting her.

My Friends

I have made some acquaintances and have lost some friends but let’s face it, if one loses a friend, that was not a friend in the first place so he didn’t lose anything. As a genious once said, shit happens and there is nothing we can do about it.

Miscellaneous

I saw a lot of movies at the cinema (Please, for Christ’s sake, don’t make me list them all…) but the last one was the one that left a mark on me: Alice in Wonderland. The mark it left was not due to the movie itself but to the place I saw the movie: the Samsung IMAX in a Romanian Mall. Having a 25 metres by 18 metres screen, it was the best 3D experience I have ever had at a movie. There was a downside however since it can’t all be perfect: the subtitle was 2D and although I don’t need subtitles in order to watch a movie, once you have them on the screen, your eyes are used to move and read. No, you can’t read a 2D subtitle with the 3D glasses if that’s what you are asking. My eyes still hurt after this experience…
Oh, did I mention I have to wear glasses? Yeah, I went to an eye doctor and it seems I have to get myself a pair of lenses/glasses with the following attributes: -0.5 for one eye and -0.75 for the other. Therefore, if you see me on the street, wave to me and I ignore you, try yelling.. you might be more successfull

Pool

I played a lot of pool. And when I say a lot, I actually mean A HELL OF A LOT! In Victorian terms, that’s equal to a number close to 200 games in 4 months. My best score was on the week before now when my friend started the game, didn’t pot any ball, it was my turn and I potted all my 8 balls in the same series of shots, making this my best achievement so far. Wish I had a place to play some good pool in Aarhus (yeah, the price is also important).

Epilogue

That’s about it. I’ll probably just post this article as soon as I get home and now I’ll finish my battery playing some Dirt2 or something. I forgot to put my headphones in the hand luggage and I can’t watch CSI: NY Things are worse though: I forgot both my toothbrushes back home (the one I have at my home and the one at my girlfriend’s place). Guess I’ll buy one more and make this a premiere: having 3 toothbrushes and yellow teeth at the same time. Hurray!

No, really now, I don’t want to turn this post into an obituary but it really is painful to notice how some of my friends (d)evolved during the past 2 years. What really is disturbing is that those who should have changed did not change and those who were supposed to stay the same have changed and are now beyond any recognition. OK, I exaggerated, you can still recognize them but you will be baffled while doing that.

I’m not giving names, you guys know who you are. Girls too.

I did not get to meet with everyone whom I wanted to and I fully apologize for that! I sincerely hope we will get a chance to get together sometime between February and May. I did not get to see some people as much as I wanted to, as well. It made me feel like shit.

I also feel sick. Don’t know exactly what’s wrong with me but God damn, I hope I will manage to fix myself. It just ain’t right to feel like this and it gets me worried as hell.

And yeah, leaving Romania hurts like shit. I so wish I could combine 80% of the Danish life I’ve been spending for the last year and a half with the 20% that I am still interested over here. And yeah, I fell for HER! Sue me!

I had fun, I made fun, I smiled and made people smile. I continued my quest for the unseen glory and lived my life to the fullest the entire year which could actually make this the first year I did that.

I traveled a lot. And I mean, a lot, at least for my own tiny standards: I’ve been in shitloads of countries and unfortunately I did not get the chance to get more out of them.

What stresses me a lot is this humongous question: “When the hell did 2009 pass?!” Looking back to these 364 days, memories cross my mind from all directions and with no purpose what so ever! I swear, I am going to try to calm down, settle on a point of view and then I’ll have another attempt of a late review of 2009…

Meanwhile, Bon Jovi’s lyrics are stuck in my head and they don’t have any plans to leave: “I don’t know where I’m going, only God knows where I’ve been” and yes, this is a valid argument for all the aspects of my life: geographical, professional, personal and whatever other aspect there might be.

See you guys in 2010. I don’t know about you but if things are going on the same upward stream, this might just be the year I will do something amazing!

It’s the first time I feel so afraid of flying. It’s not because of the snow, the take off or the landing. It’s more about the destination and the shock that flying brings into ones heart and mind. One minute you’re in one shithole, next thing you know, you’re in another one, waiting for the flight to your next shithole.

I don’t know how home is going to be like but I do hope it will be alright. I took all the books I have (either in .pdf or in .paper formats) and in case I am left out of things to do, I might as well start studying for the exams in January, right? Meh, I have to see how things are like though.

I had to pack more stuff than needed just to have the luggage more full. That’s embarrassing but I have no clue how that happened. I mean, did I lose some clothes since August? Did I drop anything anywhere and forgot to pick it up? Fockin’ hell, this is odd.

So, going back to the flying part, here are some tips when you book plane tickets (just personal experience):

• they are always cheaper on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
• before buying a plane ticket, be sure to check more than one agency to see if there is any other cheaper combination. Ignore expedia, they are a piece of shit.
• think large so even think about buying both sides of the flight by yourself. Say you want to go from Aarhus to Bucharest, like me, there are multiple options: 1) go to copenhagen and then travel with scandinavian airlines, austrian airlines, malev or czech airlines (even finnair had routes this summer), 2) go to billund, fly to milano with ryanair and then to bucharest with wizzair, 3) fly from aarhus to london (ryanair) then from london to bucharest (blueair), 4) fly from aarhus to london (ryanair), london to milano (ryanair), milano to bucharest (wizzair). Any combination is possible but you have to take care when buying the tickets.

This would be about it. Hope I’ll have a pleasant journey and speak soon, guys. If I get the chance, I might post something on my twitter account. All the best!

Meanwhile, stuff has changed. I still feel a little bit like how I felt before my last visit to Romania in July this year (article about that here) but time surely changes things. To be honest, the only reasons I want to go back to Bucharest are my family and my friend. Yeah, you read it right, unfortunately it seems that I only have one friend left back home whom I can trust and whom I care about and I do that although he’s a bad ass ugly bastard. Other than that, I have all the reasons in the world to want to stay in Aarhus. I even got a double, 140cm wide double bed now so…

Comparing to last year, August – December 2009 was a lot better. I went out, I made friends, socialized, worked, programmed, made friends and learned how to live life at its fullest. I’ve learned to appreciate the simplest things in live and see good where there’s bad. This was about to cost me during the work upon the last project but since I promised to keep my mouth shut in regards to it, I will keep my word.

I’m 4 days away from being home now and I’m still wondering what to do till then. I am also wondering what to do in Romania but I can safely assume that my schedule is going to be easy to fill. Come to think about it, the first thing on my agenda starting now is a drinking session on my return to Aarhus on the 7th of January lol.

Last but not least, I would like to say that I hope you all passed your projects, exams and so on with high grades (or handed them in on time) and have a happy week until the Merry Christmas that is about to come! Oh, and if we haven’t spoken about this already or haven’t settled for anything and you want to meet for a mulled wine/beer/coffee/pool game, just drop me a line somewhere because maybe, just maybe, we can go out. Victor.. Out!